This invention relates to improvements in motors utilizing an electrostatic principle of operation, and more particularly to motors of such nature having improved efficiency of operation.
It is well known that motors can be designed which produce rotary motion in response to electrostatic forces. In such motors, surfaces of electrically conductive and insulative material are generally arranged in a manner such that electrical charges of a desired polarity can be controllably maintained in desired positions. Rotative movement of one member of the motor, called the rotor, with respect to a stationary member called a stator is generally achieved by the additive effects of the repulsion of closely adjacent surfaces of like charge and the attraction of closely adjacent surfaces of opposite charge. A review of this field of art may be found in the book "Electrostatic Motors, Their History, Types, and Principles of Operation" by O. D. Jefimenko, Electret Scientific, 1972.
An electrostatic motor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,974,483 to T. T. Brown wherein angularly shaped bodies carrying separated charges are caused to interact with a closely spaced singularly charged surface. Although various physical embodiments of the Brown motor are possible, greater efficiency is desirable, particularly in embodiments wherein the stator is in the form of a cylindrical shell which surrounds the rotor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrostatic motor of improved efficiency of operation.
It is another object of this invention to provide a motor of the aforementioned nature having a rotor member protectively enclosed within a cylindrical stator member.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.